Portraits by pioneering female artist go on show at Museum and Art Gallery

A touring exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery, London featuring paintings by one of the most popular and pioneering British artists of the 20th century will open at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday 1 March.

'Laura Knight Portraits' highlights the life and career of Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970), whose highly distinctive and vivid work saw her rise to the top of her profession and gain a status equal to that of the most successful male artists of her time.

Knight's career took her from Newlyn in Cornwall to Baltimore in the USA and from the circus to the Nuremberg Trials. She painted dancers at the Ballets Russes and gypsies at the Epsom Races. She was also acclaimed for her work as an official war artist during World War Two.

In 1929 she was made a Dame. A few years later, in 1936, she became the first woman in over a century to be accepted as a full member of prestigious London arts institution, the Royal Academy.

The portraits Knight painted captured contemporary life and culture. Her paintings are remarkable for their diverse range of subjects and settings. Many of the people she painted lived and worked on the edge of conventional society but she admired them for their tough lives and hard-earned skills.

"Since her death in 1970 Laura Knight's work has not received the attention it deserves," said Marketing and Programme Development Officer Jo Clarke. "This exhibition aims to address this and features highlights from many different aspects of her career. Knight received much acclaim for her work when she was alive and her success helped gain a greater professional status for women in the arts at a time when other female artists were struggling for recognition. The early stages of her career were actually spent in Cornwall so we were thrilled when the National Portrait Gallery gave us the option of being the only South West venue on this national tour."

A series of special events will take place at the City Museum and Art Gallery while the exhibition is on display. These include an 'Art Bites' tour on Wednesday 26 March focusing on Knight's time in Newlyn, Baltimore and Nuremberg and a second on Wednesday 9 April looking at her portraits of the circus, gypsies, theatre and ballet. Lunchtime Talks on Tuesday 11 and Tuesday 25 March, a screening of ‘Summer in February’ on Saturday 15 March and a family-friendly holiday workshop on Wednesday 9 April are also on offer.

For more information about these and the exhibition visit the What’s On pages at www.plymouthmuseum.gov.uk or call 01752 304774.